Chapter Summaries

Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue arrived in Beihai Prefecture, where Xiao Mo passed White Deer Academy’s three-part entrance examination. The chapter ended with Shang Jiuli copying Xiao Mo’s poem about two hearts sharing a life together.

• Bai Ruxue and Xiao Mo explored Beihai Prefecture, shared sugar-coated haws, and registered for White Deer Academy’s selection.
• Bai Ruxue escorted Xiao Mo to the examination hall, where Qi Daoming oversaw the tests with Shang Jiuli and Luo Yang.
• Xiao Mo passed the written test and escaped the illusion of wealth, beauty, and power in only four breaths.
• Xiao Mo lifted the Literary Qi Brush and composed a poem, passing the final test and gaining admission to White Deer Academy.
• Xiao Mo told Bai Ruxue two lines of his poem but kept the final lines secret as they walked away together.
• Shang Jiuli persuaded Qi Daoming to let her copy Xiao Mo’s complete poem, including its lines about two hearts longing for each other and growing old together.

Xiao Mo arrived at White Deer Academy with Bai Ruxue and formally became Mr. Qi’s disciple. After helping him settle in and register, Shang Jiuli told him where to find books about flood dragons and hinted at a secret about their tribulations.

• Three months after receiving his acceptance letter, Xiao Mo reached White Deer Academy with Bai Ruxue on the day they were due to report.
• Shang Jiuli welcomed Xiao Mo as her junior brother and learned that Bai Ruxue was his childhood sweetheart.
• Shang Jiuli brought Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue to a courtyard on Yumo Peak, then led Xiao Mo to meet Mr. Qi.
• Xiao Mo offered Mr. Qi three cups of tea and formally joined his lineage, then registered at the academy and learned its rules from Shang Jiuli.
• Xiao Mo asked Shang Jiuli where to find books about flood dragons and their tribulations, and she pointed him to the Scripture Library before offering to reveal a secret.

Shang Jiuli explained to Xiao Mo that sages had sealed the flood-dragon kind’s fortune after the Dragon Clan joined the demons in the first War between Humans and Demons, and that breaking the seal required a sacrificial Sage’s Heart. Back at the courtyard, Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue encouraged each other to pursue their ambitions, promising to remain together.

• Shang Jiuli told Xiao Mo that the sages sealed the Dragon Clan’s fortune after the Dragon Clan sided with the demons, making it nearly impossible for flood dragons to overcome tribulations without a Sage’s Heart.
• Shang Jiuli explained that gaining a Sage’s Heart required reaching the Immortal Realm, establishing a school of thought, and receiving the Great Dao’s recognition, and that breaking the seal would sacrifice it.
• Xiao Mo promised Shang Jiuli he would keep her explanation secret, then returned to the courtyard and told Bai Ruxue that he had met Mr. Qi and would attend academy lectures.
• Xiao Mo worried Bai Ruxue might be lonely while he studied, but she said she was happy to wait for him and welcomed him placing his hand on her head.
• Xiao Mo said he would work toward becoming a Confucian Sage, and Bai Ruxue vowed to cultivate into a true dragon so she could be his first teacher.
• Bai Ruxue asked Xiao Mo never to tire of looking at her, and he promised he never would.

Xiao Mo challenged Wang Quan's interpretation of Confucian principles in class, arguing that knowledge and action were inseparable. Wang Quan later admitted Xiao Mo's ideas could establish a new school of thought, and decided to report them to the Confucian Academy.

• Xiao Mo attended lectures at White Deer Academy, where Wang Quan regularly tested him because he was Qi Daoming's direct disciple.
• Wang Quan explained his understanding of “Investigation of things to the attainment of knowledge,” and Xiao Mo presented a contrasting view centered on the mind and the unity of knowledge and action.
• Xiao Mo and Wang Quan argued fiercely, and Wang Quan angrily told Xiao Mo not to come to class the next day.
• Wang Quan visited Qi Daoming and revealed that he had been impressed by Xiao Mo's ideas despite his public anger.
• Wang Quan said Xiao Mo's ideas might open a new path in Confucianism, decided to write to the Confucian Academy, and wondered whether Xiao Mo could become a Confucian Sage.

Xiao Mo began studying with Mr. Qi on Yumo Peak, where their debates pushed him to deepen his understanding of Heart Learning. Two months later, Xiao Mo asked Shang Jiuli to help him with something, and she invited him to visit her courtyard each night in secret from Bai Ruxue.

• Shang Jiuli told Xiao Mo that Mr. Qi had excused him from regular classes so he could study by the teacher’s side.
• Bai Ruxue watched Xiao Mo leave with Shang Jiuli and worried that they might fall in love, even briefly considering drowning Shang Jiuli.
• Xiao Mo asked about visiting Mr. Wang to apologize for his disrespect, and Shang Jiuli said Mr. Wang had returned to the Confucian Academy and sent him a warning to take care.
• Mr. Qi taught Xiao Mo through debates about Unity of knowledge and action, prompting Xiao Mo to read widely and reflect on Mr. Yangming’s Heart Learning.
• Two months later, Xiao Mo asked Shang Jiuli for help, and she told him to come to her courtyard every evening and keep the visits secret from Bai Ruxue.

Xiao Mo secretly visited Shang Jiuli every night while Bai Ruxue believed he was asleep. After a nightmare about him leaving her for Shang Jiuli, Bai Ruxue discovered his bed was empty and later found that his blue robe smelled of another woman.

• Bai Ruxue stayed up sewing magical shoes while Xiao Mo pretended to go to bed and waited for her to return to her room.
• Xiao Mo went to Shang Jiuli's courtyard and secretly continued visiting her every night for two months.
• Bai Ruxue dreamed that Xiao Mo was leaving her for Shang Jiuli, then woke and found Xiao Mo's bed empty.
• Xiao Mo returned after midnight and fell asleep, unaware that Bai Ruxue had seen him come back.
• Bai Ruxue entered Xiao Mo's room, smelled his blue robe, and realized it carried another woman's scent.

Bai Ruxue suspected Xiao Mo was seeing another woman after noticing a woman's scent on his clothes, but Xiao Mo pretended not to know she was jealous. She followed him to Shang Jiuli's courtyard and saw Shang Jiuli pull him inside, leaving her convinced he had another woman.

• Bai Ruxue watched Xiao Mo suspiciously at breakfast, then sulked and cursed him while doing chores, but still cooked lunch for him.
• Xiao Mo guessed Bai Ruxue had discovered his visit to Senior Sister Shang's courtyard and decided to keep pretending he knew nothing.
• Bai Ruxue wondered whether she had misjudged Xiao Mo and decided to watch whether he went out again that night.
• At midnight, Xiao Mo slipped out of the courtyard, and Bai Ruxue secretly followed him toward Shang Jiuli's courtyard.
• Bai Ruxue saw Xiao Mo enter Shang Jiuli's courtyard and get pulled inside by Shang Jiuli, who was wearing a nightgown.

Bai Ruxue found Xiao Mo leaving Shang Jiuli’s courtyard after more than two months of private lessons and ran away when he spotted her. Shang Jiuli received notice that she would be assessed for Academy Head in two months, while Luo Yang warned her to keep her feelings for Xiao Mo in check.

• Bai Ruxue waited outside Shang Jiuli’s courtyard, then hid when Shang Jiuli and Xiao Mo came out together.
• Xiao Mo returned Shang Jiuli’s pearl and left, but spotted Bai Ruxue behind a tree and chased after her when she fled.
• Shang Jiuli noticed Luo Yang hiding nearby, and he gave her a letter announcing her Academy Head assessment in two months.
• Luo Yang warned Shang Jiuli that Xiao Mo was the North Sea Lord’s greatest vulnerability and urged her to treat him only as a fellow disciple.
• Shang Jiuli denied that she would steal someone else’s beloved, then smiled to herself and said Xiao Mo was only a junior brother.

Xiao Mo explained that he had secretly visited Senior Sister Shang to learn ink painting and revealed the birthday portrait he had made of Bai Ruxue. Bai Ruxue apologized for doubting him and treasured the painting, leaving the two reconciled on the mountaintop at sunrise.

• Xiao Mo caught Bai Ruxue in the woods and led her toward the mountaintop to explain why he had been visiting Senior Sister Shang at night.
• Xiao Mo told Bai Ruxue that he had been learning ink painting for her birthday, and she questioned why he had kept it secret.
• At sunrise, Xiao Mo presented a painting of Bai Ruxue on the mountaintop and explained that it was her birthday gift.
• Bai Ruxue apologized for suspecting Xiao Mo and Senior Sister Shang, then hugged the painting and said she loved it.
• Xiao Mo watched Bai Ruxue admire the painting, and they agreed that it was beautiful.

Yan Ruxue learned that Jiang Qingyi had come to the Zhou Kingdom to find her master, Xiao Mo, and planned to keep watch on Yan Ruxue from the rear palace. She rejected Shang Jiuli’s proposal to honor Xiao Mo publicly, invited her to the wedding anyway, and revealed that the painting she treasured was a secret betrothal gift from His Majesty.

• Xiao Qing gave Yan Ruxue a report on Jiang Qingyi, revealing that Jiang had searched for her master Xiao Mo for three thousand years and had been chosen as the Zhou Kingdom’s state preceptor.
• Yan Ruxue said she would handle Jiang Qingyi herself, since she was Xiao Mo’s wife and felt responsible for guiding his disciple.
• Xiao Qing told Yan Ruxue that Shang Jiuli wanted Xiao Mo’s role in the war reassessed and proposed honoring him with a statue and a place in the Confucian temple.
• Yan Ruxue called the proposal unworthy and asked Xiao Qing to invite Shang Jiuli to her wedding in four months.
• Yan Ruxue hung a painting of a woman on a mountain and told Xiao Chun it was a secret betrothal gift from His Majesty.

Shang Jiuli invited Xiao Mo to travel with her and Luo Yang to the Confucian Academy for their assessments, and Bai Ruxue encouraged him to go. After Xiao Mo departed, Bai Ruxue visited Shang Qi to arrange a private undertaking and offered to find a match for his granddaughter.

• Shang Jiuli invited Xiao Mo to accompany her and Luo Yang to the Confucian Academy, explaining that Bai Ruxue could not travel with him during the assessment.
• Bai Ruxue told Xiao Mo she trusted him and would wait for his return with a surprise, and Xiao Mo agreed to go.
• Shang Jiuli and Luo Yang escorted Xiao Mo away, while Bai Ruxue watched him leave.
• Bai Ruxue asked Shang Qi to keep academy disciples away from a mountain north of the academy for three months because her plans there could cause a commotion.
• Bai Ruxue offered to arrange a marriage for Miss Shang, and Shang Qi agreed to speak with his granddaughter.

Xiao Mo and his companions reached the Confucian Academy after helping people and confronting dangers along the way. Xiao Mo began the Gentleman Assessment’s first stage, where the proctor noticed a trace of Dragon Might around him.

• Xiao Mo, Luo Yang, and Shang Jiuli traveled toward the Confucian Academy, helping people, exorcising evil, and fighting bandits and demons as tensions between humans and demons grew.
• Luo Yang spared a Rabbit Spirit because she had not harmed anyone, and Xiao Mo agreed that he cared only about what was before him.
• Three days later, the companions arrived at the Confucian Academy and registered; Luo Yang and Shang Jiuli went to take the Academy Head assessment while Xiao Mo headed to Gentleman Peak.
• Xiao Mo joined the Gentleman Assessment examinees, many of whom had already been sent home as unqualified during their journey to the Academy.
• The Academy Director announced a two-stage assessment, and the first stage began with a demanding Confucianism examination using a Literary Qi Brush.
• As examinees collapsed under the examination’s strain, Xiao Mo remained composed, and the proctor noticed a trace of Dragon Might around him.

Xiao Mo passed the Confucian Academy’s first examination and faced the second test, which required him to use a Book Flipping Wind to stir trees on a distant peak. His breeze reached Huaming Peak as well, leaving the examiners and Shang Jiuli impressed by its strength and faint scent of ink.

• Xiao Mo rested after the first examination, and Academy Directors praised his completed paper before marking it as a pass.
• Xiao Mo received notice that he had passed and was summoned to Xuehai Peak for the final round.
• Yu Wen explained that candidates had to stir more than ten trees on distant Qiu Xue Peak with a Book Flipping Wind; only seven candidates passed before Xiao Mo took his turn.
• Xiao Mo swept his sleeve, sending a refreshing, ink-scented breeze across the mountains that stirred the trees and flowers on Qiu Xue Peak.
• Shang Jiuli felt the breeze at Huaming Peak and said it smelled a little like Junior Brother Xiao.

Bai Ruxue and Xiao Qing built a lake designed to gather White Deer Academy’s Literary Fortune and eventually send it to Xiao Mo, with Bai Ruxue willing to spend her own blood essence for his sake. After Xiao Mo earned the title of “True Gentleman” and received a Literary Fortune Bead, he decided to save it for Bai Ruxue.

• Shang Qi and Qi Daoming discussed the disruptive crashes and dragon roars coming from the mountain north of White Deer Academy, where Bai Ruxue and Xiao Qing had been working.
• Bai Ruxue and Xiao Qing finished shaping a lake that gathered Literary Fortune, and Bai Ruxue planned to add treasures and use the Mountain Sea Plate so the lake could benefit Xiao Mo.
• Xiao Qing worried that Bai Ruxue had spent too much blood essence on the lake, but Bai Ruxue said any effort that helped Xiao Mo was worthwhile.
• Xiao Mo met Shang Jiuli and Luo Yang after their examinations, and they congratulated him for earning Top Examination and becoming a “True Gentleman.”
• A white crane awarded Xiao Mo a Literary Fortune Bead, but he chose to save it for Bai Ruxue rather than consume it himself.

After finishing their examinations, Xiao Mo, Luo Yang, and Shang Jiuli took a long route back to White Deer Academy, where Xiao Mo learned Ruxue had been making him a gift. He returned to find Ruxue missing, then saw a dust-covered woman approaching and recognized her as Ruxue.

• Xiao Mo traveled back with Luo Yang and Shang Jiuli, reflecting on the hatred between humans and demons and promising Luo Yang that they would survive the coming war.
• After half a month on the road, the three returned to White Deer Academy, and Luo Yang went to report to the academy master.
• Shang Jiuli delivered the academy master's letter to Shang Qi, who told her that Miss Bai had been making a gift for Xiao Mo on a barren mountain.
• Xiao Mo returned to his courtyard, found Ruxue absent, and laid out the treats and Literary Fortune Bead he had bought for her.
• A dusty woman approached Xiao Mo, who recognized her as Ruxue.

Bai Ruxue showed Xiao Mo the lake she had built to gather Literary Fortune, and he gave her a Literary Fortune Bead in return. That night, Shang Jiuli told Hu Die that Ink Lake was connected to her junior fellow disciple, a great Confucian scholar who died four thousand years ago.

• Bai Ruxue led Xiao Mo blindfolded up a mountain and revealed a lake she had built for him to gather Literary Fortune.
• Bai Ruxue explained that Xiao Mo could bond with the lake by adding a drop of his blood, making its accumulated Literary Fortune his own.
• Xiao Mo gave Bai Ruxue a Literary Fortune Bead, and she swallowed it after he insisted.
• Bai Ruxue named the lake Ink Lake, and Xiao Mo accepted the name as a memory they shared.
• Shang Jiuli told Hu Die that Ink Lake reminded her of her junior fellow disciple, who died during the War between Humans and Demons four thousand years earlier.
• Shang Jiuli recalled that, on the day her fellow disciple died, a rare downpour drenched White Deer Academy and Ink Lake flowed for a thousand miles.

After six months of meditating in the Bamboo Forest, Xiao Mo forged the first steps of a new Confucian Path and awakened at the Golden Core stage. He planned to leave White Deer Academy and debate the Dao, while Bai Ruxue vowed to stand with him even if the whole world opposed them.

• Over three years at White Deer Academy, Xiao Mo reflected on Yangming's Heart Learning in the Bamboo Forest while Bai Ruxue supported him and kept watch.
• After another six months without eating or drinking, Xiao Mo entered a state of deep stillness as he sought to understand the Dao.
• Mr. Qi, Luo Yang, and Shang Jiuli discussed reports of renewed human-Yao Race negotiations and prepared for the possibility of war.
• A spectacle of breezes, an Ink Dragon, and celestial music appeared above the Bamboo Forest, signaling that Xiao Mo had forged a new Confucian Path.
• Xiao Mo awoke at the Golden Core stage and told Bai Ruxue he would leave White Deer Academy to debate the Dao.
• Bai Ruxue promised to accompany Xiao Mo and declared that the whole world would be her enemy if it stood against him.

After passing Mr. Qi’s examination and becoming an Academy Head, Xiao Mo celebrated with Bai Ruxue, Luo Yang, and Shang Jiuli. Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue then left Yumo Peak to travel among the academies, while Luo Yang headed toward the Yao Race World border.

• After seven days of debating the teachings with Mr. Qi, Xiao Mo received an Academy Head plaque.
• Shang Jiuli and Luo Yang celebrated Xiao Mo’s new rank with him at his courtyard, where Bai Ruxue prepared a meal they praised.
• After the feast, Xiao Mo told Bai Ruxue they would leave the mountain, and she packed to go with him.
• Shang Jiuli and Luo Yang watched Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue depart, and Luo Yang set off for the border of the Yao Race World.
• When Bai Ruxue asked where they were going, Xiao Mo said they would wander to whichever academy they came across, and she said she was happy to cross mountains and rivers with him.

Xiao Mo spent ten years traveling and debating to refine his Heart Learning, while distrust grew over his teachings and Bai Ruxue’s ties to the North Sea as war loomed. He proposed to Bai Ruxue by offering his book as a betrothal gift, and she accepted.

• Xiao Mo traveled with Bai Ruxue and debated scholars across the human kingdoms, defeating critics of Heart Learning and refining his ideas.
• Xiao Mo’s reputation spread, and after ten years he prepared to write Zhi Xing He Quan as Heart Learning gained followers and drew bans and accusations.
• The Confucian Academy defended open debate, while the human race and Yao Race moved toward war and Bai Ruxue declared that the North Sea would take neither side.
• Xiao Mo comforted Bai Ruxue over rumors accusing them of betraying the human race and suggested they return to Huanyu Village after Cliff Academy.
• Xiao Mo offered Zhi Xing He Quan as his betrothal gift, and Bai Ruxue accepted.

At the Divine Fist Sect, Chen Xincheng urged Wu Tianhai to join a coalition of human cultivators in attacking the North Sea Dragon Race to seize its treasures and prevent its return to power. Wu Tianhai agreed, and they set out to begin the dragon hunt.

• Wu Tianhai shattered a mountain peak with a punch while practicing on the Divine Fist Sect’s Main Peak.
• Chen Xincheng visited Wu Tianhai and proposed hunting the North Sea’s Flood Dragons to help Wu reach the Ascension Realm.
• Wu Tianhai objected that the North Sea was negotiating a neutrality pact with Myriad Laws Under Heaven and that Bai Ruxue and the Dragon Kings were formidable.
• Chen Xincheng argued that the Confucian Academy and more than a dozen Immortal Realm sect masters planned to wipe out the North Sea Dragon Race before it regained its strength.
• Wu Tianhai accepted Chen Xincheng’s invitation to go to the North Sea and start the dragon hunt.